


Don't Take the Girl

by sarahbeara2010



Category: Justin Bieber (Musician)
Genre: F/M, Father/Son, Friendship/Love, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-06
Updated: 2013-11-06
Packaged: 2017-12-31 17:12:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1034244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahbeara2010/pseuds/sarahbeara2010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unplanned guest on a traditional father/son fishing trip ended up meaning everything to Justin.</p>
<p>***A Jaitlin one-shot based on the song 'Don't Take the Girl,' by Tim McGraw***</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Take the Girl

**Author's Note:**

> This story also appears on www.justinbieberfanfictionarchive.com. If you come across it anywhere else, please notify me immediately.

**Don't Take the Girl**

_Johnny's daddy was taking him fishing when he was eight years old._

"Okay, Daddy, that's everything! Let's get going!"

Eight-year-old Justin Bieber tapped his foot impatiently as he stuck his head out the window and waited for his father, Jeremy, to get into the truck. The two of them were about to head off on their first father-son fishing trip of the spring, and Justin could not have been any more excited about it. He loved these outings when it was just him and his dad; just two guys having fun and doing all of the things that guys did.

Jeremy chuckled at his son's enthusiasm and glanced up from where he was crouched in front of the truck's left front tire, examining it. "Sit tight, buddy," he said as he applied pressure to the tire. "We've got a tire that could use a little extra air."

Justin groaned and rolled his eyes at that, causing Jeremy to laugh once more. He loved that his son was so eager to head off on their little trip; it meant a lot to him that he wasn't the only one who loved it when the two of them were able to spend time together.

"It'll only take me about five minutes to get it aired up,"  he said to the edgy young boy. "And then, we will be on our way!"

"I'm timing you!" Justin called as he watched his father walk toward the shed in the back yard, where the air compressor was stored.

He remained true to his word for the first minute or so, but after that, he grew bored of counting and instead found himself reminiscing on past fishing trips that he and his dad had taken. It had been a tradition for the past three years. The two of them would get up with the sun, load up all of their gear, pack a lunch, and spend the day at the river fishing, exploring, and just spending quality time together as father and son.

"Alright--that should do it!" Jeremy's voice drifted up to meet Justin's ears as he finished airing up the tire and disconnected the compressor. He popped up and smiled at his son, reaching through the window to ruffle his hair. "Let me just take this back to the shed, and we'll be good to go!"

"Alright!" Justin cheered, slapping his dad a high-five. "Let's do this!"

_Little girl came through the front gate, holding a fishing pole._

As Jeremy made his way out of the front yard, Justin saw out of the corner of his eye that someone else was making their way in. He turned and saw Caitlin Beadles, one of the neighborhood girls, walking through the front gate with--of all things--a fishing pole.

"Hey, Justin!" she said cheerfully, a cheeky smile on her face as she reached the truck.

"Hi, Caitlin," Justin responded. He didn't want to seem rude, because Caitlin was pretty nice, but...well, she was a _girl_. And there was no room for one of those on a traditional father-son fishing trip.

At that moment, Jeremy returned from the back yard, stopping short when he saw Caitlin. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said with a smile. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"You're not interrupting anything," Justin responded quickly, his eyes darting to meet his father's gaze before he turned his attention back to Caitlin. "Well, sorry, but we have to go. We've got lots of fishing to do."

_His dad looked down and smiled; said, "We can't leave her behind." Son, I know you don't want her to go, but someday, you'll change your mind."_

Jeremy looked at Caitlin, the smile on his face growing. "I think what my eager beaver of a son meant to say is, you had better hurry and get in the truck if you want to come with us!"

"What?" Justin practically shouted from the truck. "Dad, she can't come fishing with us! She's a _girl_!"

"Fishing isn't _only_ a guy thing, son," Jeremy laughed. "Your mama used to come fishing with me all the time. She _still_ enjoys going every now and again."

"Yeah, but..." Justin was at a loss for words, having just had his argument so obviously crushed by Jeremy's statement.

"And look, she's already got her fishing pole all ready to go," Jeremy pointed out, smiling down at Caitlin. "We can't leave her behind after she took the time to think ahead like that."

"But the tradition is for this to be a father-son fishing trip," Justin retorted. "Not a father-son... _girl_ fishing trip!"

"Well, traditions can always be added to," Jeremy said with a shrug. "Your grandpa and I used to let people tag along with us on our trips all the time. It made the experience even more fun."

He paused for a moment, a knowing smile coming across his lips. "Besides, when you grow up, you'll change your mind about thinking that a girl being around is a bad thing."

_And Johnny said, "Take Jimmy Johnson. Take Tommy Thompson. Take my best friend, Bo. Take anybody that you want as long as she don't go. Take any boy in the world. Daddy, please don't take the girl."_

"But I'm not grown up yet!" Justin whined. "And if you want to take somebody else on our trips, I'll go find a _boy_ to come with us. I'm sure Jimmy or Tommy would like to go. Or, I could ask Bo, since he's my best friend. Or, we could ask Grandpa or Uncle Rob or your boss or anybody else that you want to go. Take any other boy in the _world_! Just not the girl!"

"Sorry, son," Jeremy said with an apologetic shrug. "My mind is made up."

He turned to Caitlin with a triumphant smile on his face as he took hold of her bright pink fishing pole. "Why don't you go around and get in the truck? I'll put your fishing pole in the back with ours."

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Bieber!" Caitlin smiled as she skipped around to the passenger door and opened it, climbing into the truck next to Justin.

"This is going to be lots of fun!" she giggled, an excited smile on her face.

"I agree with you, Caitlin!" Jeremy grinned as he got behind the wheel and cranked up the truck. "Justin, what do you think?"

Justin sighed heavily, his elbow resting against his thigh and his cheek squished against the palm of his hand. "Oh, yeah...it's going to be the most awesome fishing trip ever."

_Same old boy; same sweet girl; ten years down the road. He held her tight and kissed her lips in front of the picture show._

As they walked up and joined the line of moviegoers waiting to purchase tickets, Justin pulled Caitlin into his arms and placed a passionate kiss on her lips.

"Ten years, baby!" he cheered. "And we're still going strong!"

"That we are!" Caitlin giggled before bringing their lips together for another kiss. She smiled teasingly at him, running her hand through his hair. "Did you ever expect us to wind up like this when we pulled out of your driveway to go on that fishing trip?"

"Absolutely not," Justin responded, a sheepish smile on his face. "You changed my mind pretty quickly, though. I mean, you were the only girl I had met that actually wasn't afraid to rip the worms in half and bait her own hook and touch the fish."

"And let's not forget that I caught more fish than you and your dad combined!" she reminded him, playfully sticking her tongue out at him and giggling as he captured it between his lips before pulling back and laughing as well.

"You know I was your good luck charm," he said, puffing out his chest and popping his jacket collar.

"And you're so modest, too." She laughed teasingly.

"Well, you know...I try." He popped his collar once more, causing both of them to laugh before he became serious. "I love you, Caitlin. And I'm so glad that I've been able to share the past ten years with you."

"I love you, too," she replied, placing a kiss on his cheek as she hugged him. "And yeah, it's been an amazing ten years."

They soon made their way to the front of the line and purchased their tickets. They were both in the mood to laugh, so they had decided to see the latest installment of Tyler Perry's 'Madea' series.

_Stranger came and pulled a gun; grabbed her by the arm; said, "If you do what I tell you to, there won't be any harm."_

They turned to make their way to the door leading into the theater and were shocked and horrified to find themselves face-to-face with the barrel of a gun. Holding the gun was an unfamiliar man who was glaring menacingly at them.

"Hey, man..." Justin swallowed hard, raising his hands and feeling his heartbeat quicken. "Be cool. Just--"

"Shut up!" the stranger demanded, giving the gun in his hand a slight shake. His gaze turned to Caitlin, and he swiftly reached out and took hold of her arm, pulling her toward him.

"Justin!" she called desperately as the stranger put the gun to her head.

"Caitlin!" Justin lunged for her, but the stranger jerked her out of his reach, returning the muzzle of the gun to Justin's direction.

"Listen to me," he hissed. "Follow my instructions, and she goes free. Make one mistake..."

Caitlin whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut, tears flowing down her cheeks as the gun was placed at her temple again while the man's menacing voice continued speaking. "And she goes six feet under."

_And Johnny said, "Take my money. Take my wallet. Take my credit cards. Here's a watch that my grandpa gave me. Here's the key to my car. Mister, give it a whirl. But please don't take the girl."_

"Here!" Fighting back tears, Justin hastily began emptying his pockets. "I've got a little over $500 in cash. You can have it all!" he tossed his wallet onto the sidewalk in front of the man. "There are two credit cards in there, too."

With shaking hands, he fumbled to remove the golden band that was around his wrist. "My grandpa gave me this watch for my birthday," he said, holding it up so that the man could see it. "It's been in our family for years and is worth hundreds."

Once the watch was on the ground, Justin reached into his other pocket and withdrew his keys. "These are to the black Range Rover parked in the third row," he said. "Take it. Take _all_ of this stuff."

He sighed, looking pleadingly at the man and trying to keep himself from completely breaking down. "But please...don't take the girl."

Time seemed to stand still as the gun-wielding stranger stood looking down at the small pile that had accumulated at his feet.

"Pick it all up and put it in my jacket pockets," he instructed Justin. "And no funny business."

"No, sir, of course not." Justin agreed, stooping down to pick up his belongings. He quickly fumbled them into the man's pockets before stepping back and looking at him expectantly.

After a few seconds that seemed more like hours, the stranger had taken off, leaving Caitlin rushing into Justin's arms. He grabbed her immediately, holding her close as both of them started sobbing. Meanwhile, the young man selling tickets rushed over to tell them that he had called 9-1-1 and that the police were on their way.

Justin honestly couldn't have cared less about that. He didn't care about his money or his watch or his car. All that had any value to him at all was Caitlin. And she was in his arms. She was worked up--just like he was--but she would be okay. They would _both_ be okay...because they still had each other.

_Same old boy; same sweet girl; five years down the road. There's gonna be a little one, and she says, "It's time to go."_

Five years later, Justin and Caitlin were still going strong. They had married at twenty-one and officially started their lives together. Having taken some time to just enjoy being a married couple, they had started trying for a family and had been over the moon when they discovered that they were pregnant with their first child--a little boy who they were going to call Brantley Drew.

Justin lay in their bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking back on their lives together. There had been many more fishing trips that they had embarked on together following that first one. They had basically been inseparable ever since that day. Neither one of them had ever dated anyone else; they were each other's first everything. Their relationship was one that everyone else envied and that they couldn't have been more thankful for.

"Justin..." Caitlin's soft squeak snapped him out of his reminiscing and brought him back to reality. He lifted his head to see her standing there in the doorway--looking nervous, but excited at the same time.

"What's up, babe?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yes..." she trailed off, her hands on her belly as a smile made its way onto her lips. "And our little boy is ready to make his entrance into the world."

Justin sat bolt upright at that. "It's time?"

"It's time!" Caitlin confirmed. She started laughing, but stopped short when she was hit with a contraction. "Ooh...and right now, he's giving me a reminder that he's ready," she panted, bending over and resting her hands on her knees.

"Just breathe through it," Justin instructed, scrambling to his feet and dashing over to her, wrapping one arm around the small of her back and taking her hand in his. "And then, when it passes, we'll get you out to the car so we can go meet this little rugrat!"

When the contraction passed, Justin lifted Caitlin into his arms and carried her out to the car. The two of them shared a quick kiss and smile before he dashed around to the driver's side and slid behind the wheel, hurriedly cranking up the car and driving off to the hospital.

_Doctor says, "The baby's fine, but you'll have to leave, 'cause his mama's fading fast."_

Not even an hour later, Justin stood beside Caitlin's hospital bed...feeling more terrified than he had ever felt in his entire life.

It was so strange that he was feeling that way, because in all honesty, that moment should have been one of the happiest of his life. His baby boy had just been born and was wailing at the top of his lungs.

Caitlin, on the other hand, was not doing well at all. She looked absolutely exhausted, and her skin was deathly pale. And she was bleeding incredibly heavily; Justin had never seen so much blood.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the doctor informed Justin before he could even open his mouth to ask what was wrong with his wife. "We need to get your wife prepped for emergency surgery immediately."

"What's wrong with her?" Justin asked, his heart pounding and his entire body trembling as his wide-eyed gaze was locked on Caitlin.

"Some complications have risen," the doctor responded simply. "The baby is fine, but his mother is in grave danger. We'll do all we can, but I can make no promises. In the meantime, please go to the waiting room. Someone will be with you when we have news."

Realizing that he had no choice but to follow the doctor's instructions, Justin choked back tears as he headed for the door.

"I love you, Caitlin," he called, turning back to look at her one last time before leaving the way that he had been directed to do.

_And Johnny hit his knees, and then, he prayed. "Take the very breath You gave me. Take the heart from my chest. I'll gladly take her place if You'll let me. Make this my last request. Take me out of this world. God, please don't take the girl."_

Justin didn't even make it two steps into the hallway before all of his walls came tumbling down and the tears that he had been holding back started flooding down his face. He immediately dropped to his knees right then and there, not even stopping to care about who might see him and what they might think. There was only one thing on his mind at that point in time...and one thing only.

"God," he choked out, his shoulders shaking with his soft weeping. "If You have to take somebody today, let it be me. Don't take Caitlin. Don't take my little boy's mommy and the love of my life. I will give You  my last breath or the heart in my chest. I'm willing to take her place, Lord, if You will allow me to. I don't care if the words that I'm saying right now are the last ones that I will ever speak; let them be. Take me out of this world right here and right now, God. Let me die right here on this floor in this hospital."

He paused for a moment, heaving a shaky sigh as he started to cry even harder. "God...please...don't take the girl."

_Johnny's daddy was taking him fishing when he was eight years old._

"Daddy, let's go!"

Five-year-old Brantley stood impatiently next to his father's truck, which was loaded down with fishing equipment. It was time for their very first father-son fishing trip, and he had been looking forward to it for weeks.

"Coming, son!" Justin replied from where he stood in the doorway of their house. He turned his attention to the beaming brunette standing next to him. "You sure you don't want to come with us?"

Caitlin laughed at that. "I'm sure," she responded. "After all..."

She trailed off before continuing, her voice pitched a few octaves higher. "This is a father-son fishing trip, not a father-son... _girl_ fishing trip!"

Justin laughed along with her, memories of that day coming flooding back to him. "Well, I'm sure one day, Brantley's going to find out that sometimes, father-son... _girl_ fishing trips can turn out to be the best thing that's ever happened to a guy."

"I'm sure he will," Caitlin smiled, leaning in to place a kiss on Justin's lips as she hugged him. "And I'm also sure that he's going to be bouncing off the walls when he hears the news that we have for him when you guys get back."

"Yeah, I'm sure that'll be the cherry on top of an awesome day." Justin grinned as he caressed his wife's belly. "He'll be even more excited when the baby starts getting bigger and he finds out if he's going to have a little brother or a little sister."

"Daddy!"

Justin and Caitlin both laughed at the exclamation that came from their little boy, who was now jumping up and down to show how eager he was for them to leave.

"I'll see you later," Justin said, hugging his wife and kissing her lips passionately before patting her stomach once more. "Keep your mommy company while your big brother and daddy are gone, okay?" he said to it before winking at Caitlin.

"You guys have fun," she laughed, caressing her belly and watching as her husband and son climbed into the truck and then drove off down the road.

"This is going to be so much fun, Daddy!" Brantley exclaimed, bouncing up and down in his seat. "Just me and you! And best of all...no girls!"

Justin laughed at that. "Well, sometimes, girls aren't really all that bad to have around, son," he said, reaching over and tousling the little boy's hair.

Brantley wrinkled up his nose, turning his eyes to his father in disbelief. "Girls are icky! I'm _never_ going to be around girls! And I'm _especially_ never going to let a girl go _fishing_ with me!"

Justin laughed once more, remembering when he had been the exact same way all those years ago. "We'll see about that, son," he said with a knowing smile. "We will see."


End file.
